Last Wednesday, Mississippi State University’s fouth annual biofuels conference began. Among many others, the conference hosted U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus to speak on his perspective of the research, products and benefits of biofuels.
On Thursday, Rafael Hernandez, associate professor and associate director of the MSU Sustainable Energy Research Center, welcomed the guests and commenced the conference.
He said the theme of this year’s conference was from research to commercialization. The purpose of the conference was to manifest the liaison between biofuels research in labs and making it commercially viable.
“We want to show you the link between research and the economic engine,” Hernandez said.
Shortly after the welcome speech, MSU President Mark Keenum welcomed Mabus and briefly spoke on the importance of the biofuels research. Keenum said Mississippi has a variety of natural resources, wood products, food products and biomass, which allows for the state to have great potential to be a leader in the research of biofuels.
“Something I’m very proud of is seeing Mississippi in the forefront of development of this exciting area of technological development,” Keenum said.
Keenum then introduced the guests to  Mabus who was also a former governor of Mississippi.
Mabus spoke about the importance of biofuels for national independence and particularly how the U.S. Navy is playing a central role in the process of revolutionizing energy resources.
One of the goals Mabus proposed to the U.S. Navy is to certify that 50 percent of all Navy energy comes from alternative energy or non-fossil fuel, Mabus said.
He acknowledged this may be labeled as a fad to be politically correct but the genuine motive for this goal is for better combat and, more importantly, for safety and security of the country itself.
Regarding the transition from research to commercial scene, Mabus said, the most difficult part is making that leap from lab to being commercially viable and price competitive. Mabus compared the transition to crossing the valley of death which may be harsh, but if successful, the journey is worthwhile not only for the researchers but for the country as well.
“We are doing this for better federal warfare and to be a better military organization,” Mabus said. “Energy security is national security. Energy security is independence.”
He said depending on fossil fuel imported from other countries has made the U.S. dangerously sensitive to oil price spikes.
“Every time the cost goes up a dollar, (it) costs the United States Navy $31 billion in additional fuel cost,” Mabus said.
He said by depending on fossil fuel, the nation is also depending on some of the most unstable places on earth for energy needs.
“We would never allow these countries to build our ships or our aircraft or our ground vehicles, but we give them a vote on whether those ground vehicles operate, those ships sail or whether those planes fly because we get our fuel from them,” Mabus said.
Speakers from several other universities such as Auburn University, University of Florida, Columbia University and Texas A&M were present at the conference.
There were also poster presentations by students on improving the supply chain of biomass and the different methods of producing biofuels from sources such as algae and wheat products.
He said the posters are extremely comprehensive because they will be judged by the speakers who are directly related to the research of biofuels. This year there were a total of 43 posters by students from MSU as well as some other universities on display.
Hernandez said the conference was inaugurated at MSU in 2006 and over 150 people attended the event. In 2007 and 2008, the conference underscored the topics of bio-oil, ethanol and feedstock production. The conference received sponsorships from the National Science Foundation and many other prestigious industries and state agencies. The conference was held in Jackson the past two years.